Early 2007 economic growth worst in four years.
By on Apr 27th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Early 2007 economic growth worst in four years.
“Economic growth slowed to a near crawl of 1.3 percent in the first three months of 2007, the worst performance in four years. … The new figures underscored just how much momentum the economy has been losing as it copes with the strain of the troubled housing market, which has made some businesses more cautious in their spending.”
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I’m sure it’s Clinton’s fault
April 27th, 2007 at 11:27 amAnd yet the DOW is at 13,000. Listen, do you smell that mirage too?
April 27th, 2007 at 11:28 ambut…but…but…it was worser under Clinton!
April 27th, 2007 at 11:33 amHouse of cards….
April 27th, 2007 at 11:35 amOh please. This is just more of the usual leftie hogwash. As everyone knows, “numbers” and “statistics” have a well-established liberal bias.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:36 amThe next president is going to inherit a completely gutted economy, in addition to an unwinnable quagmire of a war and the complete and utter contempt of the rest of the world.
Given all this, I’m surprised anyone even wants the job…
April 27th, 2007 at 11:46 amListen, do you smell that mirage too?
Comment by Badmoodman — April 27, 2007 @
Poetry? Or a maelstrom of mixed-metaphors?
April 27th, 2007 at 11:48 amWHEN ASKED ABOUT GOING SOFT ON NORTH KOREA, BUSH SAID IT WAS A “TRICK” BY THE MEDIA….AND DID NOT ANSWER.
HE THEN WENT ON TO SAY THAT PULLING THE TROOPS FROM IRAQ WOULD PUT THE TROOPS IN HARMS WAY EVEN MORE THAN THEY ARE NOW.
IF THIS DOESN’T SCREAM THAT THE MAN NEEDS TO BE UNDER OATH, WHAT THE FUCK WOULD?
April 27th, 2007 at 11:50 amGiven all this, I’m surprised anyone even wants the job…
Comment by TripMaster Monkey — April 27, 2007 @ 11:46 am
Yet, Clinton was handed a horrible economy, a truly pathetic jobless rate, as well as an unheralded crime rate.
And what did he do over his 8 years?
April 27th, 2007 at 11:52 amOh yea, a surplus, a growing economy with increased jobs, and for the first time in decades, a decline in crimes.
Huh.
What has W done???
Since the tax cuts have not led to the economic growth promised by the administration, can they be repealed for the richest 1%? Or is that waving the white flag and surrendering to the terrorists?
April 27th, 2007 at 12:02 pmIt’s coming tumblin’ down faster than you can blink your eye. Our economy is tanking and our national debt (to the tune of $29,000 per citizen) is bankrupting us. The middle class has become an albatross and the social services of this country are not ready for the massive onslaught they will be facing due to “fiscal irresponsibility” of this president.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:14 pmmaybe bush will hire an ‘economy czar’
April 27th, 2007 at 12:14 pmmaybe bush will hire an ‘economy czar’
Comment by pgw — April 27, 2007 @ 12:14 p
Like the CEO of Walmart!
Rolling back wages in your town too!
April 27th, 2007 at 12:20 pmlibs 1st qrtr in office – economy slows down. whad’ya expect?
April 27th, 2007 at 12:22 pmIt’s axiomatic:
Recessions follow Republicans like stink follows $hit.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:26 pmlib solution will be – raise taxes.
collectively there is not a half a brain between them.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:30 pmlibs 1st qrtr in office – economy slows down. whad’ya expect?
Comment by ct
What a dumbass statement. Par for the course from you though.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:31 pmDid C&L ban you CT?
What a dumbass statement. Par for the course from you though.
Did C&L ban you CT?
another example of a lib code for – i got nothin
April 27th, 2007 at 12:34 pmThis is not just a first quarter of the Dem’s being in the congress thing…This has been on going for over 5 year’s…The powers that be (media and the black house) choose to put the info out now for their smear and fear more of the same policy…
Since 2001 the amount of poor and slipping middle class has rose to new hight’s..Working with local food bank’s I have seen it as the lines for food have grown…The rich are getting richer and the poor and middle class are loosing their home’s and slipping down on the ecanomic ladder…Stop the war’s, impeach the guilty, seize their asset’s, stop the madness now..Blessings
April 27th, 2007 at 12:34 pm” i got nothin
Comment by ct — April 27, 2007″
agreed.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:35 pm#13 – “libs 1st qrtr in office – economy slows down. whad’ya expect?” Comment by ct — April 27, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
And Pres. Bush’s first year in office, economic recession and attacks by terrorists care of the Pres. Bush plan for America.
This is the first time a neo-con has taken responsibility for the failures of Pres. Bush! Wow! Shocker!
April 27th, 2007 at 1:00 pmEarly 2007 economic growth worst in four years!?
Look! Over there!
Clinton!!
FDR!!
April 27th, 2007 at 1:13 pmWait, I thought the economy was steaming along? I thought we were creating new jobs? I thought the booming stock market was making us all wealthy? Oh, wait, thats only if I’m in the top 1 percent of the American population. The rest of us will wait to be trickled down on. I wonder if the next great depression will come in 2007 or if it can be held back until 2008? Whenever it is i’m sure it will be blamed on Bill Clinton for his philandering.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:36 pmlibs 1st qrtr in office – economy slows down. whad’ya expect?
Comment by ct
Oh, yeah, right because the US economy is so small that Congress can have an impact already.
Better trolls, please.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:40 pmConsumer Capitalism is founded upon the Protestant Work Ethic crossed with hedonistic materialism. No longer do citizens save for a rainy day. No. they spend more than they make. It’s a recipe, as Mr Micawber would tell you, for misery.
The so-called economic boom of the past decade was fueled by unusually low interest rates which made borrowing –even for the profligate– seem painless and desireable. Alas, the slightest rise in inflation or interest rates or both would bring down the economy like a house of cards.
We have to acknowledge that after 27 years of Reaganomics that Free Market capitalism causes as much pain and suffering as did Soviet communism. The only difference between the two was in who got hurt. Neo-Keynesianism is the order of the day. That is, a mixed economy where government, business, and labor work together to see what benefits the public interest.
It’s a hard lesson to learn, but the statement that Big Business is Good and Big Government is Bad is pure dogma. It’s an article of faith and not science. Consider what Naomi Klein has said in The Nation/Guardian UK in The World Bank has the perfect standard bearer:
First, let’s dispense with the supposed hypocrisy problem. “Who wants to be lectured on corruption by someone telling them to ‘Do as I say, not as I do’?” asked one journalist. No one, of course. But that’s a pretty good description of the game of one-way strip poker that is our global trade system, in which the United States and Europe – via the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation – tell the developing world: “You take down your trade barriers and we’ll keep ours up.” From farm subsidies to the Dubai Ports World scandal, hypocrisy is our economic order’s guiding principle.
As America’s economic clout declines, that of China, India, ALBA, and the EU will rise. The American economy will only be able to survive if business, government, and labor learn to cooperate and to put ideological differences aside. The only thing that matters is what works. And foreign policy will have to shift from that of the Softspoken Big Stickbearer to genuine transparency, competition, and international standards for human rights and environmental protection.
Unfortunately, this is not something on the Republican agenda. And it’s only timidly being explored by Democrats. But, if America wants to remain in the game, it will have to pony up and play by the rules. The time of the USA as world cop, banker, and teacher has past. Obama isn’t wrong. There can still be an American Moment, but it wil have to be by acting as the First Among Equals. And it’s that “among equals” part that will take some getting used to.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:59 pmct, I expect a President to own up to his mistakes and accept the consequences of his actions, but I’m not going to hold my breath on that one.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:10 pmToo much debt, not enough savings. It’s the end of Consumer Capitalism.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:11 pmAnd yet the DOW is at 13,000. Listen, do you smell that mirage too?
The stock market is a discounting mechanism for the future. What is happening in the stock market today reflects where the economy will be in 6-12 months.
(When the stock market crashed in 2000, it spelled “recession” for whoever won the 2000 election. Sure enough, Bush got smacked with a recession in early 2001. )
Contrast that to the GDP, which reflects what has happened in the past. It is looking at the economy through the rear-view mirror. The below-trend GDP shows the effect of the Fed’s bungling of interest rates (rates are too high), the effect of the real estate slowdown and subprime loan collapse, and higher energy costs.
Even with those things, the economy continues to grow.
The tax cuts have worked. The economy has been on an incredible run since the 2001 recession. Unemployment is at 4.4%. Wages are growing. These are good times.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:11 pmToo much debt, not enough savings. It’s the end of Consumer Capitalism.
Wrong. The savings number doesn’t include contributions to 401(k) plans and IRAs. This is how most Americans save money these days.
More on the mythical low savings rate.
We keep hearing how the rate has been negative and what that tells us about the American consumer’s balance sheet. However, the statistic is very misleading. One would think that calculating a savings rate would include accounting for what most people consider to be “savings.” That is, money that is put away for future use and not spent.
Unfortunately, the personal savings rate simply takes one’s disposable income (income after taxes are paid) and subtracts spending. Actual savings, most notably retirement savings in 401(k) plans and IRA’s, is not actually counted as savings in this statistic. So, you can see that we really can’t conclude that people aren’t saving nowadays. We just don’t know how much people are saving from this number alone.
April 27th, 2007 at 2:14 pmmuckdog, I would bother to explain why you’re wrong, but after engaging you on global warming, I already know you are too mentally incapable and deranged to have an intellectual or factual conversation with. Lets just leave it at you’re WRONG, WRONG, WRONG on your savings, stock market and economic analysis. You are in fact SO WRONG, it’s embarrassing to read! What a dum bass!
April 27th, 2007 at 2:49 pmBut Larry Kudrow says “Things are Good.” Based on the Dow gaining 12 % or so in six plus years of Bush.
Then he thoughtfully adds “Will George W. Bush ever get any credit for this?”
April 27th, 2007 at 2:54 pmBut, hey you guys, the billionaires are all making money hand over fist – isn’t that what we all go to work for???
April 27th, 2007 at 3:00 pmThe middle class has become an albatross and the social services of this country are not ready for the massive onslaught they will be facing due to “fiscal irresponsibility†of this president.
Comment by veritas — April 27, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
When the Rethugs decide that the poor and the newly poor (middle class) are too expensive, they will probably try to physically outsource us to another country as a cost cutting measure:).
On a more serious note, no matter what the MSM says, a 1.3% GDP=we are in a recession.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:07 pm“And yet the DOW is at 13,000. Listen, do you smell that mirage too?”
What in the hell does the DOW have to do with the state of the economy. Very few people own stocks. It’s the rich who own stocks and are getting richer by the day, off the backs of the workers.
The problem is that the rich are bankrupting everyone else. And now that people have tapped out all the cash they have in their home, or are losing their home because their job went to India, they no longer have the money to pend to keep the economy going.
I have often wondered how shortsighted these rich idiots are. Who do they think will buy their products once they have destroyed the middle class. Oh…I remember, China. They couldn’t care less if everyone in the US starved as long as they get their dividend checkd so they can continue to earn their living by sitting next to their swimming pool.
I weep for what we have become. It’s time to fight back.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:12 pmThe next president is going to inherit a completely gutted economy, in addition to an unwinnable quagmire of a war and the complete and utter contempt of the rest of the world.
The DOW’s at WHAT? Well it’ll fall soon enough mark my words. It’s gonna crash!
April 27th, 2007 at 3:15 pmThe dollar is currently at an all time low against the Euro and a 35-year low against the British Pound.
When Bush came into office it took $.96 per Euro and today it takes $1.36 per Euro, meaning the greenback has lost just over 40% of its worth under Bush.
What this means is that companies with considerable overseas operations will show inflated earnings from exchange rates. That alone explains Pepsi’s recents earnings “surprise”. The opposite thing happens with trade, it takes more dollars to import the same goods and that leads to inflation. That is why today’s report shows weaker than expected GDP and higher than expected inflation for the 1st quarter, 2007. It also hints at stagflation in the future, driven in part by future inventory pressure.
An increase in margin debt on stocks also suggests that we may be entering a bubble period for stocks. The headwinds for the economy are mounting with dimished fiscal and monetary tools to deal with those economic conditions — further pointing to stagflation ahead. The ride could get exciting.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:16 pmWeird. My post #24 keeps disappearing and then reappearing. Spooky.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:20 pmDLC | Blueprint Magazine | January 4, 2007
It’s true that by conventional measures the U.S. economy today looks fairly buff. Productivity growth is robust, unemployment and inflation are low, and business profits and stock prices are high.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254157&kaid=127&subid=177
From the Democratic Leadership Council. Dang I hate when that happens.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:26 pmOkay, I cut the link and quote from Naomi Klein.
Consumer Capitalism is founded upon the Protestant Work Ethic crossed with hedonistic materialism. No longer do citizens save for a rainy day. No. they spend more than they make. It’s a recipe, as Mr Micawber would tell you, for misery.
The so-called economic boom of the past decade was fueled by unusually low interest rates which made borrowing –even for the profligate– seem painless and desireable. Alas, the slightest rise in inflation or interest rates or both would bring down the economy like a house of cards.
We have to acknowledge that after 27 years of Reaganomics that Free Market capitalism causes as much pain and suffering as did Soviet communism. The only difference between the two was in who got hurt. Neo-Keynesianism is the order of the day. That is, a mixed economy where government, business, and labor work together to see what benefits the public interest.
As America’s economic clout declines, that of China, India, ALBA, and the EU will rise. The American economy will only be able to survive if business, government, and labor learn to cooperate and to put ideological differences aside. The only thing that matters is what works. And foreign policy will have to shift from that of the Softspoken Big Stickbearer to genuine transparency, competition, and international standards for human rights and environmental protection.
Unfortunately, this is not something on the Republican agenda. And it’s only timidly being explored by Democrats. But, if America wants to remain in the game, it will have to pony up and play by the rules. The time of the USA as world cop, banker, and teacher has past. Obama isn’t wrong. There can still be an American Moment, but it wil have to be by acting as the First Among Equals. And it’s that “among equals†part that will take some getting used to.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:54 pm“Will George W. Bush ever get any credit for this?
George Bush could discover the cure for cancer, discover a domestic renewable energy source to replace fossil fuels, and bring peace to the Earth and you’d all still hate him.
April 27th, 2007 at 4:35 pmVery few people own stocks. It’s the rich who own stocks and are getting richer by the day, off the backs of the workers.
Wrong. In 2005, 91 million Americans owned mutual funds. About half of US households. About half of Americans own stocks.
In “The Millionaire Next Door” the story is told about how folks get rich. Avoid debt and save at least 10-15% of your income in stocks. That’s how to get rich. If you’re not rich, ask yourself if you’re truly following the recipe from “The Millionaire Next Door” or have you made bad choices and decisions along the way?
April 27th, 2007 at 4:45 pmFurthermore, there is evidence that while stock values have risen in recent years, overall family wealth has grown very little for the middle class. For one thing, families continue to accumulate debt. And the rise in value of stocks and retirement accounts has been offset by a decline in other kinds of savings, such as the old-fashioned bank account. It is entirely possible for an American family to have both a growing stock portfolio and falling economic security at the same time.
2007?
No. June 2000.
April 27th, 2007 at 4:48 pmReal estate slump?
No problem!
No problem!
The Toll Brothers, KB, Pulte, Centex, etc. just need to switch gears. That’s all. Switch gears to building prisons.
With so many Republicans eventually going to prison,, the Toll Brothers will be building fancy prisons. Rich Republicans DO need fancy prisons.
John
April 27th, 2007 at 5:24 pm